RLS

Camille Saint-Sa​ëns composed musical suite carnival of the animals(Le carnaval des
animaux).Suite follows zoological program,where every movement(part) of the composition is
inspired by certain animal.The Swan(Le cygne) is 13th movement written for cello.By using
imagination he created a piece that resembles swan gliding through water.
KQ
What is the role of imagination in knowledge production in the arts?
Connection
Camille used imagination in order to create a musical piece that would resemble movement of
the swan.Through fluent gliding of the cello bow he wanted to showcase it’s soft movement
through the water
Outline
Imagination as WOK
To what extent does imagination contributes to knowledge production in the arts?
Claim:Imagination as surrogate for experience-can both intensify and extend our experience
Ex:Sabre dance was created by Aram Khachaturian to resemble warriors fighting with sabres by
using certain instruments where he used imagination to better express imagination
Counterclaim:Illusory patterns-Projection of private fantasies onto objects and creating patterns
in things such patterns doesn’t exist
Ex:People thinking Mona Lisa is Leonardo da Vinci’s autoportret
To what extent does art contribute to the production of knowledge?
Claim:The quality of the work is closely connected with the idea of skill
Ex:Picasso’s work is quite abstract where not a lot of skills are implemented but nevertheless his
work is highly famous
Counterclaim:The response of spectators-work of art require people to appreciate it
Ex:Picasso’s work was only acclaimed after his death,until then people didn’t give it appreciation
Conclusion
Imagination contributes to knowledge production in the arts by being a surrogate for experience
however illusory patterns could be seen.Art contributes to the production of knowledge by
connecting quality of the work to idea of skill however work of art requires for people to
appreciate it in order to get response of spectators.
Implication for the real-life situation:
Composer Camille S. used imagination as surrogate for experience,using motif of swan to
showcase its movement however illusory patterns could be present as spectators could see a
connection to a different animal or even object without knowing the title of composition.Quality of
the work could be directly connected to composition’s level of being hard to perform however if
there aren’t spectators knowing and appreciating the piece it could have been considered low
quality of composition or vice versa could be a low quality of the piece overall but there would be
still spectators appreciating it.
Another real-life situation:
Ludwig Van Beethoven created a piece called Wellington’s victory or better known as Battle
symphony where he describes battle between the French and British armies outside the Spanish
town Vitoria subsequent to British victory.Beethoven used imagination and through rifles and
cannons as instruments he evoked the battle.